South Downs Randonnee 28 June
Discussion
Anyone else do it? Despite it taking 14 hours (a lowly average of 7mph), the pain in my knees (my left one has now swollen worryingly), the relentless hills (3000m+ of climbing) and the punctures (5), I enjoyed it!
The best bits were the views, the weather, freewheeling at 35mph down smooth grassy slopes, and the view of Eastbourne (and the finish) all lit up by the evening sun.
I dont think I ever want to do it again tho
The best bits were the views, the weather, freewheeling at 35mph down smooth grassy slopes, and the view of Eastbourne (and the finish) all lit up by the evening sun.
I dont think I ever want to do it again tho
The route was dry - a few puddles to start with, and was quite overgrown with nettles etc, but then when it opened onto the chalk downland it was awesome - dry and grassy, in places flinty (hence the punctures). You have to go through many gates which upsets your rhythm a bit. The main thing is the hills - lots and lots and lots of them, several climbing to 6-700 feet from sea level which really did for my knees. You will need good navigation/maps as it's quite easy to take the wrong turn in places, as it's not obviously signed everywhere and we were saved by my friend's GPS on a couple of occasions.
Beyond being dropped off/collected we didn't have any other support. We took everything in small rucksacks I would recommend a massive breakfast because I just popped down a banana and suffered till half way when I filled up with some food. Apart from that I took some basic tools, and inner tubes, which were essential.
Food wise, you need lots of fuel. My HR monitor reckons I used up 6700 calories on the ride! I took and consumed 2 energy gels, 2 powerbars, 3 bananas, 2 marmite sandwiches, 2 tubs of pasta, painkillers and about 4 litres of water. There are water taps every 15 miles or so, so you don't really need to take too much on you which will save weight. I wish I had known that before I took my 3 litre camelback!
My "break glass in emergency" bottle of coke was used at the 15 mile to go point which just about took me to the finish. There are a couple of really nasty straight up climbs at the end that the caffeine/sugur boost helped me over.
All I can say is good luck and hope the weather is good for you. We had a sunny day (almost too hot, but I'm not complaining), and a strong SW wind which helped push us along. Had it been wet, with wind in your face all day, the chalk slopes would have been treacherous and slippery, so hope for a dry day.
Beyond being dropped off/collected we didn't have any other support. We took everything in small rucksacks I would recommend a massive breakfast because I just popped down a banana and suffered till half way when I filled up with some food. Apart from that I took some basic tools, and inner tubes, which were essential.
Food wise, you need lots of fuel. My HR monitor reckons I used up 6700 calories on the ride! I took and consumed 2 energy gels, 2 powerbars, 3 bananas, 2 marmite sandwiches, 2 tubs of pasta, painkillers and about 4 litres of water. There are water taps every 15 miles or so, so you don't really need to take too much on you which will save weight. I wish I had known that before I took my 3 litre camelback!
My "break glass in emergency" bottle of coke was used at the 15 mile to go point which just about took me to the finish. There are a couple of really nasty straight up climbs at the end that the caffeine/sugur boost helped me over.
All I can say is good luck and hope the weather is good for you. We had a sunny day (almost too hot, but I'm not complaining), and a strong SW wind which helped push us along. Had it been wet, with wind in your face all day, the chalk slopes would have been treacherous and slippery, so hope for a dry day.
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